Lock



Dec. l2, 1950 c. A. HILLGREN 2,533,582

Locx

Filed Sept. 16, ,1947

Patented Dec. 12, 1950 UNITED STATES OFFICE 4 Claims.

My invention relates generally to locks, and particularly to locking andlatching devices for use on doors.

Locks commonly employed for latching and locking doors include a casing,or housing, which is held in a inortise in the edge of the door by meansof screws, and which contains the bolt and the means for actuating thebolt. Knobs for operating the bolt-actuating means are carried by one ora pair of aligned spindles, which extend through a transverse aperturein the door and which are rotatable in bearings in the lock oasing. Itis a Well recognized fact that the installation of a look of this typein a door having a mortise for receiving the lock casing requires expertfitting which can be accomplished only by an experienced carpenter, orother craftsman. More-l over, it is often necessary to chisel outportions or the Wood, or build up portions of the door adjacent thesides of the mortise, in order to obtain Aproper fitting andco-operation between Vthe look bolt and the keeper. Furthermore, theforming of the mortse in the Wooden door is a time-consuming and costlyoperation and adds considerably to the price of the door. When themortise, or rectangular opening, is provided in the edge of a metal doorthe structure is complicated, and the cost of fabricating the door ismaterially increased.

lt is an object of my invention to obviate the faults of such priorlocks by providing a doorlocking latching device which be installed on adoor without requiring that the door be mortised to receive the lockcasing.

Another object is to provide a door lock which includes a rectangularbox-like casing adapted to be slid into a slot or appropriate size cutin the edge of the door by a simple routing operation, the lool; casinghaving flanges at its sides adapted to grip the opposite sides of thedoor adjacent the slot so as to retain the lock in place on the door.

Another object is to provide a lock of the chaacter referred to, inwhich the flange at one side of the casing is formed as of a closureplate which, in addition to providing an escutchw eon plate, also servesto close the open side of the casing in which the lock-actuatingmechanism contained. The closure plate is preferably located against theinside surface of the door and fastened in place by screws, which arescrewed into the casing to draw the 'clamping flanges of the lock intoclamping engagement the opposite sides of the door to positively retainthe lock in place on the door. By this provision, the

screws may be` loosened suihciently to release the clamping flanges, sothat the entire lock can be withdrawn from the door by merely sliding itout of the slot.

Another object is to provide a lock of the type specified in which theflanges at the sides of the casing have inwardly directed barbs, orother projections, adapted to pierce the material of the door as thelock casing is clamped in place so as to positively lock. the casing onthe door.

Another object is to provide 4a lock of the type indicated in which thespindles for the knobs are rotatably mounted in the casing, which, inturn., is completely housed Within the slot of the door. By thisprovision, the single slot receives the entire unitary structure, and itis thus unnecessary 4to drill transverse holes in the door through whichthe knob spindles may pass.

Another object is to provide a lock which can be readily installed on`and removed from the door by the home owner, or other unskilled peison, Without the necessity of inserting or completely removing screws,or other extraneous fastening devices.

Another object is to provide Aa look Which is highly ornamental andwhich adds greatly to the appearance of the door on which it isinstalled, the lock completely concealing the edges of the slot in thedoor, and thus effecting the i1- lusion of being, in some undeterminablemanner, built into the door.

Another object is to provide a lock, of the type referred to, which issimple in construction and economical to manufacture, being composed ofa minimum number of simple parts which lend themselves tomass-production methodsand convenient assembly.

Further objects of the invention will be apparent from the followingdetailed description and from the drawing, which illustrates a preferredembodiment of the invention, by Way of example. In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view oi my improved door lock, showing it installed ona door which is shown in section to better illustrate the invention;

Fig. 2 is a, cross-sectional View of the inner side of the lock, takenon line 2-2 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sec-tional view, taken on line 3-3 of Fig. l;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional View, taken on line -s of Fig. l;

Fig. 5 is a cross-sectional view taken on line of Fig. l; and,

Fig. 6 a View similar to Fig. 1, but showing the inner escutcheon plate,or clamping member,

loosened to permit installation ci the lock en, or its removal from, thedoor.

Refering to the drawing in detail, my improved lock device comprises arectangular box-like casing lil havin@ a top Wall il, a bottom vall l2,s end Wall i3, and a side Wall thus providing an open outer end oppositethe inner end Wall i3 and an open side opposite the side wall side vfallit projects beyond the to bott and end Walls il, i2, i3, in afflange islo rounded, shown at it. rEhe side Wall i, 1' forms, in eiiect, anescutcheon plate to be disposed against one side or the outer surface l?oi a door i3 which also has inner surface The door i3 is pivoted in theusual l5 Way and is otherwise conventional in form er: that it isprovided with he usual rectan recess or mgortise for receiving the lock,in

oi a wiutn capable of receiving the lock ca Sil which is slid thereintoin the manner b illustrated Figs. 3 6. snugly Within the slot when soinstalled on the door the ange i5 oi the side wall or es-A 25 cutcheonplate portion ii oi the casi rests against the outer surface il of thedoor, and covers the edges of the slot at this side oi the door.

The inner open side of the casi-n adapted to 30 be closed by an innerescutcnn which is of the same shape and size a Ae plate por tion l@ to.adapt it to overlie the enge of the slot 2i) to conceal the saine. Theinner plate attached to the side oi the casing l? screws 25 which arescrewed into t pcd lio in transverse bosses 2l, see 1Eig. 4. The plateis held slightly spaced from the edge the open. side or" the casing l@by a thin plate (Figs. l and 6) and a small bosses 29 formed on theplate l0 '25 and abutting the side of the casing lll ig. 5). is designedand located to hold the spindle 4Q in place, as will appearloereinaiter.

It will be apparent from theva'nove that by loosening the screws 23 theplates it E5 may be moved apart to adapt the lock i@ to be slid into theslot 2%, or removed thercrrorn. When the screws 2t are tightened, the'plates ifi and 25 are drawn toward other and thus 50 serve as clampingplates to ret.. he l ck casing on the door. Preferably the ilange iiiand the plates 25 are provided with relatively thin sharp ribs or barbs291 which are adapted to penetrate the material of the door adjacent theslot 2d as the sides of the lock are drawn toward each other so as topositively lock the outward sliding movement.

Held Within the lock casing le is latch or holt asernblyt which includesa substantially 60 sfguare pte .3l adapted to be disposed between theplates la and E5 and to close the open outer end oi 'the casing. Theplate 3i preferably beveled at its upper and lower edges, as shown atSE1, so as to engage the upper and lower sur 65 faces oi the'slot 2Qandin eilect, cover the s c f' between the casing and the slot, as shownFig. 3, and to cover up sa-W cuts which may result when, fitting thelock. assembly Se also includes a cylindrical housing or barrel 33 se-70 cured to the plate 3i and disposed within the casing i. The barrel32'serves as a bearing for reciprocable latch bolt 33,'vvhich has itsouter beveled end projecting from the plate 3i and adapted to slideacross the usual keeper plate, 75

not shown, which is mounted on the door jamb and which has an openingfor receiving the latch bolt. The latch or bolt assembly 39 issubstantially the same as that disclosed in my pending application,Serial No. 608,160, led August 1, 1.945, and entitled Lock, to whichreference is made ior a detailed description thereof. ln the presentimproved lock, the inner reduced end o the barrel 32 is provided withslots Sil in its opposite sides, the slots eing `adapted to receiveledges 35 formed'on the interior or the casing lil so as to retain thebolt assembly Within the casing, Since the slots 312 Yare disposedequidistantly from the axis of the barrel 32, it is possible to insertthe latch boit assembly in the lil, ber-ore the casing is inserted inthe slot 2G of the door, with either slot uppermost so as to positionthe beveled end oi the latch bolt tov-.fard the left. as shown in Fie.l, or toward the right, so that the same lock can be installed onoppositely pivoted doors. A bolt-actuating element tl' is slidable inthe barrel 32 and is adapted to pivot rocker, which, in turn, retractsthe latch bolt 33 against the action oi a spring, these latter partsbeing shown in detail in my prior application, referred to above.

The inner end of the actuating element 311 is adapted to be engaged bythe flat surface 3S- of outer 'transverse spindle 40, which is rotatablea bearing boss lli on the outer escutcheon plate The spindle lil carriesa knob G2' on its Vouter projecting end, and this knob is preferablyprovided with a key cylinder which is adapted to lock the spindleagainst rotation, such spindlelocling mechanism not being herein shownsince rn be of anysnitable type commonly employed in. door locks oi thisgeneral nature.

The spindle lid has an axial extension gli of square cross-sectionadapted to be received in a square hole @E in an inner knob its, thisknob having a hub il rotatable in a circular boss #1S on the escntcheonplate 25 and held in place axially oy a snap-ring 139. Itis thus seenthat the spi-n die il may be rotated by turning either knob, so that thelatch bolt 33 can be retracted either from. the outside or inside of thedoor to permit opening of the latter.

he spindle lll may be locked against rotation from the inside of thedoor by means of a fingere operated latch, which may be of aconstruction similar to that shown in my above mentioned pendingapplication. Suce it to explain that the latch includes a shaft 5G,rotatable in'the strip or plate 28 Which holds the spindle fill inplace, and a second strip 5i Within the casing iS, the shaft 5d having apin engageable in a slot in a movable latching plate 52. The plate 52has a lug 53 which is adapted to enter a recess ll in the side of thespindle lil to prevent rotation of the spindle. The shaft 53 is adaptedto be rotated by means oi' a finger lever 55, which has an innerextension in theiorm of a key 5t rec able in a socket in the end of theshaft. This finger-operated latch is more speciilcally shown anddescribed in my copending application, Serial llo. 60S,l6l.

It will be observed from the foregoing that my invention provides a lockwhich can be readily installed on Wooden or other doors by simplysliding the lock casing into a slot in the edge of the door andtighteningV a few screws. By this construction expert fitting of thelock in Lhe door is unnecessary, and the installationV and removal ofthe lock may be accomplished oy a person unskilled n the art. As aparticular feature oi in'- vention, the several parts of the lock,including the casing, bolt assembly, spindle, knobs, etc., are assembledto provide a unitary structure which remains intact at all times, itbeing noted that disconnection of the spindle and knobs from the lock topermit installation on the door, as in conventional locks, isunnecessary since the entire unit can be slid into place on the door.This is an extremely desirable and important feature, since the parts ofthe lock can be assembled in proper relationship at the manufacturingplant and this relationship need not be disturbed. By the use of mylock, the door is provided with a single slot which can be easily andinexpensively cut in the edge of the door, so that the cost of the dooris materially reduced. This constitutes an important contribution to theart since it eliminates the usual transverse spindle aperture,heretofore believed necessary. My lock is simple in construction,economical to manufacture, is pleasing in appearance, and highlyefficient in use.

While I have herein shown and described my improved lock as embodied ina preferred form of construction, by way of example, it will be apparentthat various changes might be made therein without departing from thespirit or scope of the invention. Therefore, without limiting myself inthis respect, I claim:

1. A lock adapted for installation on a wooden door having a slot in anedge thereof, including: a box-like casing having one open side and aside wall constituting a first escutcheon plate disposed against oneside of the door and engageable with portions of the door adjacent theslot; a spring-actuated latch bolt slidable in said casing and normallyprojecting from an end thereof; manually operable spindle meansrotatable in said casing and adapted upon rotation to retract said boltinto said casing; a second escutcheon plate disposed against theopposite side of the door and adapted to engage portions of the dooradjacent the slot, said second plate having bosses projecting from itsinner face and engaging the upper and lower surfaces of said slot ofsaid door, the inner ends of said bosses abutting the upper and loweredges of said open side of said casing; clamping means connected betweensaid second plate and said casing and operative to draw said platestoward each other so as to clamp said lock in place in the slot; a rstset of thin, rib-like barbs formed integrally with and extendingdiagonally between said first escutcheon plate and said casing; and asecond set of thin, rib-like barbs formed integrally with and extendingdiagonally between said second escutcheon plate and its said bosses,said rst and second sets of barbs cutting into the wood at the upper andlower corners of said slot 0f said door.

2. A lock adapted for installation on a door having a slot in an edgethereof, including: a box-like casing having one open side and a sidewall constituting a first escutcheon plate disposed against one side ofthe door and engageable with portions of the door adjacent the slot,said casing having vertically spaced, transversely extending ledges andan open end disposed adjacent said edge of said door; a latch boltslidable relative to said casing and normally projecting through saidopen end thereof; manually operable spindle means rotatable in saidcasing and adapted upon rotation to retract said bolt into said casing;a second escutcheon plate disposed against the opposite side of the doorand adapted to engage portions of said opposite side of the dooradjacent the slot; and a barrel surrounding said latch bolt andproviding a bearing therefor, said barrel having vertically spaced,transversely extending slots adapted to receive said ledges when saidbarrel is slid into said casing through said open side thereof, saidbarrel having a plate portion adapted to close said open end of thecasing, said second escutcheon plate retaining said barrel within saidcasing.

3. A lock as defined in claim 2, in which the upper and lower edges ofsaid plate portion are inwardly bevelled.

4. A lock as defined in claim 2 in which said ledges are disposedhorizontally, in which said latch bolt has a bevelled vertical corner atits end, said corner being offset laterally from the vertical axis ofthe bolt and adapted to engage a keeper plate of la door frame so as tocam the bolt inwardly into said casing, and in which said slots extendhorizontally and are disposed equidistantly from the axis of the barrelso that said barrel can be disposed in said casing with either of itssaid slots disposed uppermost to locate its said bevelled. verticalcorner at either side of said vertical axis and thus adjacent eitherside of the door.

CARL A. HILLGREN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the le ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 133,842 ElWell Dec. 10, 1872997,524 Voight July 11, 1911 1,024,371 Soley Apr. 23, 1912 2,304,612Voight Dec. 8, 1942 2,304,941 Mantz Dec. 15, 1942

